Sally Gerard

Black Widow spiders make my skin crawl. Buzzing rattles along a trail make my skin crawl. Walking through spider webs makes my skin crawl. Ticks make my skin crawl.

A near miss can make my skin crawl, like missing a step climbing down the grain bin ladder or a car swerving in front of me on an icy road.

Feeling threatened makes my skin crawl. Having violent things I’ve seen replay in my mind makes my skin crawl. Thinking about my evil stepmother’s red fingernails makes my skin crawl.

Mayonnaise makes my skin crawl. Creepy sounds make my skin crawl. That recurring dream I’ve had where I watch myself being shot makes my skin crawl. People who hate make my skin crawl.

Photo:theoldrobots.com

I had a Rock’em Sock’em Robots set, but it belonged to both me and my sister. I liked the blue one and Cathy always played the red one. I’m pretty sure we got it for Christmas one year, but I don’t remember whether it was from our daddy or Grandpa Piscak.

We played it a lot  in the basement. It was on the shelf down there in the sort of toy closet space. It lived on that shelf for so many years and I don’t really know when it was finally tossed out.

There were times when frustration had one or the other of us reaching over the boxing ring to trip the head of the other boxer so we could win the game if it was going on and on! This always elicited cries of foul play from the other robot’s controller.

Photo: etsy.com

This last Christmas, I was doing some shopping and saw that they are making this game again. It was on the shelf with other ‘retro’ games. A wave of nostalgia hit me and I took one of the boxes and put it in my cart. I wheeled around with my old friends while I did the rest of my shopping, and then returned them to the retro-shelf.

How in the world would I have explained bringing that home?!

I am like my father in that I don’t much care for conflict. I like everything to go along smoothly and for people to get along. It makes me very uncomfortable when tempers flare and things get said in the heat of moments. I hate it when I see someone hurting because of those heated moments. I know that anger comes from frustration and is almost always accompanied by the person being tired and stressed and there is just a breaking point.

I was listening to a commercial the other day on a local channel. It’s this big, happy guy who sits and just gives a positive message.

So something like: don’t give in to the negative around you. Instead, surround yourself with positive people and ideas and feelings.    And another one: Don’t let those around you tell you can’t. You can. You can do or be whatever you want and set your mind to. There will be mistakes and setbacks, but keep going. Be the you, you want to be.

It made me stop and listen, not only because the guy seemed so full of joy, but because it is a good message. It drives me crazy when people act like jerks or are rude, disrespectful, or just total Yahoo’s. I’m not always sure how to defuse a situation, but I try to stay positive. And I’ve done a lot of thinking about what I’ve shut off in my life because someone said something negative about it, even though it was something I loved and enjoyed. I’ll take a closer look and be sure to bring those things back into my life. It not only hurts us when we let go of things we love because of negative feedback, but it hurts those we’re closest too because we aren’t being who we are meant to be.

I miss my dad. He had a kind and gentle spirit and that will always be a part of me. He always cared about what I was doing and who I am. He loved all of us without condition and taught us to love each other. He was genuine.